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Jayne Armistead
Jayne Armistead was an Alfordian General during the Alfordian Civil War. She came from a very low station, a product a union between a human courtier and a lowborn elf woman (not that all Half-Elves are bastards. Assuming that would be racist! Right Gwen?) She proved a capable sword, a pretty good shot, and a sharp wit. Some time around 1677, she became enamored with General Henry Taelor. Despite a severe gap both in age and station, the two started a secret affair which would have been scandalous had it been discovered by King Holiac's highly conservative court. Suspecting something fishy, the King ordered her transfered to a command under Amory Cradock in the Spring of 1680. When rebellion broke out in the Autumn of that year, Cradock and Armistead agreed to block the passage of Ruuz and Tardale at the Andal River's ford before the village of Ashtown. The Royalist army was low on supplies for a variety of complicated logistical reasons and was reduced to throwing stones instead of shooting arrows, nevertheless, they did succeed in killing Tardale, who was the second in command. Despite this, eventually the Royalist positions were overrun. Cradock was killed in the fighting and Armistead was captured. After the Battle of Leavenfall, Jayne and Henry were reunited as prisoners. Both swore allegience to the new republic and were given positions in the provisional government. Armistead was made ambassador to Tarquin by Avery in her penultimate year as consul. The following year, Taelor was sworn in as Avery's successor. While the old King's traditional lease of land to his southern nobles (nicknamed the Southrons) was due to expire in 1691, many prominent Alfordians were calling on these nobles who had supported the degenerate King to be disinherited, their fiefs broken up. Taelor himself came from a Southron family and was thought to be counted among the Southrons, it was thus a great shock when he publicly supported some kind of phased disinheritence. Armistead had to watch from a distance as Taelor's anger with the intransigence of the Southron faction threatened to plunge the fledgling republic into further civil strife. On October 1st, 1689, Henry sent a private letter to Jayne, apologizing for his anger. He asked her to marry him, and offered to bring her home and go public about the two of them, claiming that old conventions must be set aside. Seventeen days later, Jayne was killed along with 213 others in a massive terrorist attack by an extremist faction in Alaev. It wasn't until three days later that her replying letter, accepting Henry's proposal, was found in her ambassador's quarters and not until after Taelor's own death that it became widely known about. This dark episode marked the final straw in Henry Taelor's descent into near madness. He was found dead in the snow on the streets of Castow on the morning of December 12. Ironically, it was the tragic death of the two and the subsequent discovery of their affair that moved the people of Alford to come together in a spirit of mourning and hammer out a compromise to the land disputes.